195 - Healing Trauma to Break Free From Addiction

"Life continues to show up, whether you want to be a part of it or not." -Natalie

Today, Ben and I chatted with Natalie, who endured horrible abuse as a small girl that gave her immense amounts of childhood trauma that ended up turning into a drug and alcohol addiction as a teen. Listen in to discover how Natalie overcame her addiction by healing her emotional wounds as an adult.

Her Early Years Traumatized as a Child

At the age of eight, Natalie was sexually molested and started drinking at the age of 14. As her disease progressed, she started using Zanax and was arrested at 17 and put on probation.

She couldn't trust anyone by the age of 10 and didn't know who she was or what to do in her daily life. Natalie felt a constant challenge of wanting to be the best and fitting in with other kids her age.

In college, Natalie became addicted to oxycontin, robbed her neighbor's home, and was picked up and put in jail for 14 days. Her father wouldn't bail her out, and she was considered the black sheep of her family. Shortly after her jail sentence, Natalie moved to Canada and started selling herself for sex to keep up with her drug addiction.

Learning to Utilize Her AA Tools to Heal

Surrendering is Natalie's lifeline to healing. "Everyday you need to surrender yourself." Natalie understands the importance of having a good, reliable support group, such as the people she's found at Rock Recovery Center.

Check out our website, where you can download episodes with helpful information for those in recovery and their families. Share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review!

Show Highlights

[02:32] Natalie talks about her past history growing up in a family of six children.

[07:22] Using the white chip to surrender yourself so you can heal.

[12:53] How surrendering leads to recovery for addicts.

[17:48] Utilizing sobriety in the form of having clean people around you to help you change your lifestyle.

[22:49] Moving from one addiction to another because you need the high to survive.

[33:07] How Natalie's life has changed since she started her recovery.

[45:00] What she is doing to continue her recovery into sobriety.

Episode Links and Resources

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Find out more about Al-Anon and how this resource can support your family

Ideas for a show? Email us tom@realrecoverytalk.com and ben@realrecoverytalk.com

Podcast editing and show notes by Pro Podcast Solutions